Substantial effort and attention continues toward the development of newer and more sustainable energy supplies. The conservation of energy by increased energy efficiency remains crucial to the world's energy future. According to an October 2010 report from the U.S. Department of Energy, heating and cooling account for 56% of the energy use in a typical U.S. home, making it the largest energy expense for most homes. Along with improvements in the physical plant associated with home heating and cooling (e.g., improved insulation, higher efficiency furnaces), substantial increases in energy efficiency can be achieved by better control and regulation of home heating and cooling equipment. By activating heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment for judiciously selected time intervals and carefully chosen operating levels, substantial energy can be saved while at the same time keeping the living space suitably comfortable for its occupants.
It would be beneficial, at both a societal level and on a per-home basis, for a large number of homes to have their existing older thermostats replaced by newer, microprocessor controlled “intelligent” thermostats having more advanced HVAC control capabilities that can save energy while also keeping the occupants comfortable. To do this, these thermostats will need more information from the occupants as well as the environments where the thermostats are located. Preferably, these thermostats will also be capable of connection to computer networks, including both local area networks (or other “private” networks) and wide area networks such as the Internet (or other “public” networks), in order to obtain current and forecasted outside weather data, cooperate in so-called demand-response programs (e.g., automatic conformance with power alerts that may be issued by utility companies during periods of extreme weather), enable users to have remote access and/or control thereof through their network-connected device (e.g., smartphone, tablet computer, PC-based web browser), and other advanced functionalities that may require network connectivity.
Among other requirements, the successful implementation of intelligent network-connected thermostats into widespread, practical everyday use in a large number of homes and business requires the deployment of computers, networks, software systems and other network infrastructure capable of providing the necessary provisioning, data management, and support. Data communications methods between the intelligent thermostats and centrally provided management servers (which can also be termed “cloud-based” management servers), needs to be responsive, robust, and scalable. At the same time, the hardware and methodologies employed need to be compatible with, and workable in view of, a large installed base of conventional routers and network services that are already in homes and business, such that widespread adoption of the network-connected intelligent thermostats be commercially feasible.
One further issue that needs to be addressed in promoting the adoption of intelligent network-connected thermostats relates to the level of sophistication and effort required to install, configure, and manage such thermostats. As the benefits of these intelligent thermostats are realized, a broad range of individuals and businesses will inevitably be interested in their adoption. People calculating the reduced costs and energy savings might be ready to purchase such a device yet may hesitate when it comes to installation, configuration, and management. Some may wonder whether they will be able to follow the instructions provided in the installation and user manual provided with the thermostat. Adding a network connection to the thermostat device can further complicate matters if the users are not adept in computers and networking.
To overcome these and other associated issues, it is important that the intelligent thermostat is easily installed, configured, and managed. Complex installation instructions with numerous steps should be avoided as they might be confusing to a large number of users and prevent the intelligent thermostat from being installed or set up correctly. Installation problems may also arise if the installation requires a user to enter numerous codes and network addresses on the intelligent thermostat and/or other pieces of equipment. Instead, the intelligent thermostat installation and configuration should be achievable even by a user with limited experience and knowledge in “tech”.
One further issue that needs to be addressed in promoting the adoption of intelligent network-connected thermostats relates to the human-machine interface the will be experienced by the user when interacting with such thermostats. It would be desirable to provide intelligent network-connected thermostat and an associated cloud-based provisioning, management, and control system therefor that not only saves energy, but that also provides a user-friendly, intuitive, pleasant, and appealing experience for the user. In addition to providing such positive and compelling experiences directly at the user interface of the physical thermostat itself (i.e., the “walk-up” user interface), it would be desirable to provide such positive and compelling user experiences when the user is interacting remotely with their network-connected thermostat over a computer network using their computer web browser, smartphone, tablet computer, or other remote access device.
It is to be appreciated that although exemplary embodiments are presented herein for the particular context of HVAC system control, there are a wide variety of other resource usage contexts for which the embodiments are readily applicable including, but not limited to, water usage, air usage, the usage of other natural resources, and the usage of other (i.e., non-HVAC-related) forms of energy, as would be apparent to the skilled artisan in view of the present disclosure. Therefore, such application of the embodiments in such other resource usage contexts is not outside the scope of the present teachings.